The turboprop plane is out of production in the ex-USSR

The plane was carrying Slovak peacekeeping troops from Pristina in Kosovo to Kosice in Slovakia.

It crashed at about 1930 (1830 GMT) on Thursday. Originally the death toll was given as 44, but it was revised downwards by the Slovak authorities.

The heavily wooded mountainside where the plane came down and bitter winter temperatures contributed to the destruction and hampered rescue efforts, officials added.

"It's minus 18 degrees Celsius here. The plane's fuselage is completely burnt out. It is absolutely inconceivable that there could be other survivors," said Hungarian chief police spokesman Laszlo Garamvolgyi.

The sole survivor was critically injured in a Slovakian hospital and was not expected to survive, Mr Garamvolgyi added.

Final phone call

The wife of one of the Slovak soldiers on board, Michaela Farkasova, told Slovak television that her husband called contacted her shortly after the crash.

"He told me that the aircraft had crashed and was on fire and was somewhere in the forest. He told me that he was alive and to alert the rescue services and police. Then the line went dead."

We are trying to piece together the bodies of the victims which were scattered over a very large area - it's very grim Slovakian interior ministry spokesman

It then caught fire and emergency crews battled to put out the blaze.

Helicopters were reportedly unable to reach the crash site, and wreckage and bodies were scattered over a wide area.

A spokesman for the Slovakian interior ministry, Timor Dobson, said the aircraft burst into flames as it approached the border.

"We are trying to piece together the bodies of the victims which were scattered over a very large area," he said.

"It's very grim."

Slovakia has some 100 troops stationed in Kosovo as part of the Nato-led peacekeeping force.